Disney Pin Review: Steamboat Willie - Decades Collection - 2023 Release

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Great design celebrating a Disney milestone

Cons: Size seems small for the price

The Bottom Line:

Celebrate the start

With first decade milestone

That is a little small

Celebrating the Start of the Disney Company With, What Else, Steamboat Willie

In case you haven’t heard (and if you are a Disney fan, you’ve definitely already heard), Disney is celebrating its 100^th anniversary as a company this year.  Naturally, they are doing lots to celebrate including special merchandise.  That includes pins.  They even have a special limited edition series that will celebrate Disney in the various decades.  The pin for the first decade celebrates the debut of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie.

The pin is the typical size for a Disney pin.  It’s all in black and white, and it features Mickey as he looked back then with his hands in the air.  He’s behind the wheel of the steamship.  In front of the wheel is a banner that says “Steamboat Willie” on it.

The pin is actually 3D, with several different layers.  Mickey is in the background, then comes the wheel as the second layer.  The banner is the third layer.

And get this, the wheel actually spins.  That’s a nice touch.

However, it’s small.  As I said, this fits in well with the rest of the Disney pins I have in my collection size wise, but I was expecting something more since it was the same price I was paying for the jumbo pins the last couple of years.  When I got it and saw the size, it was quite a surprise, and not in a good way.

I get that the 3D nature of the pin makes it more expensive to produce, and that costs have gone up due to inflation.  But that really doesn’t help my disappointment.

On the other hand, I do like the design of the pin, and the fact that the pin spins is a fun choice.  If it had been cheaper, I wouldn’t have this issue with it at all.

I’m trying to remember if I have another pin for Steamboat Willie in my collection.  I know I have a couple of ornaments, but I’m not sure about pins.  Anyway, it is a great choice for the first decade of the Disney company.  Yes, the company had been around for five years before Steamboat Willie premiered, but that cartoon is what really put the studio on the map in that first decade.

Ultimately, the first pin in the Decades collection gets the series off to a mixed start.  As long as you know what you are getting when you buy Steamboat Willie, you’ll probably like it better than I do.